"Won't Give Rashid Khan Away," Ashraf Ghani Tells Narendra Modi

Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani was in complete awe of his countryman Rashid Khan for an all-round performance in the Qualifier second of the Indian Premier League (IPL) season XI. It was his heroics which helped Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) beat Kolkata by 13 runs and book a place for the grand finale on Super Sunday.

It will be a mouth-watering contest between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Sunrisers at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on May 27.

Leg-spin star Rashid wast his imperious best. He came to bat when Hyderabad looked in a bit of a bother. However, with his introduction to the crease, Rashid was at his sublime best. He smashed a couple of fours and four sixes during his breezy knock of 34 of just 10 deliveries.

The right-handed batsman smashed Shivam Mavi and Prasidh Krishna for a couple of sixes each in the final two overs which were instrumental in getting Hyderabad to a competitive total of 174 in their allotted 20 overs.

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) began their chase in a brisk manner. Sunil Narine and Chris Lynn looked in good touch and got the home team off to a flying start. Narine, in particular, was looking quite sublime against Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

The southpaw smashed a 13-ball 26 before his downfall. Nitish Rana also played a fluent knock and shared an important partnership with Chris Lynn.

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However, the introduction of Rashid to the attack completely changed the turn of events. He was quite spectacular and kept troubling the KKR batsmen on a consistent basis.

Ace spinner bagged the prized wickets of Robin Uthappa, Chris Lynn, and Andre Russell. It was a just astonishing spell from the ‘spin wizard’ who spun a web around the KKR’s batsmen and there was no way back for them.

Despite a valiant effort from Shubhman Gill, in the end, Hyderabad managed to seal a 13-runs victory. They will now meet the Super Kings in the final in which will be a repeat of the Qualifier 1st.

Following his sensational performance, Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani showered praises on Rashid Khan.

Pertinently, the tweet from the Afghan president Ghani came soon after India-based fans took to microblogging website Twitter while asking for the citizenship of Rashid.

“Afghans take absolute pride in our hero, Rashid Khan. I am also thankful to our Indian friends for giving our players a platform to show their skills. Rashid reminds us whats best about Afg. He remains an asset to the cricketing world. No, we are not giving him away. @narendramodi,” Ghani wrote.

Afghans take absolute pride in our hero, Rashid Khan. I am also thankful to our Indian friends for giving our players a platform to show their skills. Rashid reminds us whats best about Afg. He remains an asset to the cricketing world. No we are not giving him away. @narendramodi

— Ashraf Ghani (@ashrafghani) May 25, 2018

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